Shadow of Nintendo

A few weeks ago Sony has unveiled the PS3, or majority of what it is supposed to be, coupled with their online service offerings that a few months ago they had downplayed as unnecessary. At the Game Development Conference (GDC), Sony once again echoed the same news that Ken Kutaragi trumpeted in the Playstation Business Conference, this time under the guise of Phil Harrison coupled with a couple of more tech demos (hard to tell what they are anymore if its coming from Sony).

Of course with the style of Sony Marketing, the sizzle always sells much more than the steak…and it works! Microsoft and Nintendo were also present at the GDC but compared to Sony’s sizzle these two guys are once again left out in the blue.

Ken Kutaragi's motto: "Sell the Sizzle and not the Steak!"

To its credit, Microsoft didn’t really want to create too much buzz around the XBOX 360, perhaps they want to save all the news they have for E3 2006. Instead they went to the GDC to peddle their new gaming development tool XNA, which promises to help developers make games easily between the XBOX 360 and the PC. (Although rumor has it that XNA is also being worked on for operability for the PS3 and Nintendo Revolution platforms). Other than that Microsoft had a small place wherein people can check out the latest builds of the XBOX 360 games. in contrast with Sony’s “sizzle marketing”, Microsoft seems to be taking the ‘play the game yourself and you be the judge’ steak approach.

Nintendo was also present at the GDC but it was overshadowed by the presence and the promise of the PS3 gaming. Apart from the usual Nintendo circles, nobody seemed to have batted an eyelash at Satoru Iwata’s keynote speech. Nintendo has stated several times that they out to compete with the XBOX 360 or the PS3, instead they are trying a more different approach in their console where the focus will be in the gameplay experience compared to a the raw hardware power of the machine.

But is Nintendo really out of the ballgame?

The Final Boss: Satoru Iwata

Come E3 2006, Microsoft will not really have any further unveilings for its hardware perhaps with the exception of some new peripherals and improvements on their XBOX Live service. Microsoft will once again focus on what they believe matters…games. Chances are they will be showing actual games running on the XBOX 360 and announce more games in development for the XBOX 360. Microsoft’s wildcard in the games forefront will be the XBOX Live Arcade and Marketplace, the laughing stock of E3 2005 which apparently worked against all criticism and ‘Velocity Girl’ jokes.

Come E3 2006, Sony will have a repeat presentation of what they did at the Playstation Conference in Japan and at the GDC. Hopefully this time around they will have something more concrete than the usual tech demo and take a page out of Microsoft’s play book and start showing playable games. Sony should be able to do so considering majority of their games have been in development far longer than the XBOX 360 titles shown in E3 2005. Sony has announced so much in the past few weeks that I wonder if there is anything left to announce at all for E3 2006. And I honestly don’t think they will be unveiling the price of the PS3 anytime soon.

Most people are betting that the star of E3 2006, will be Sony…just as they had always been for the past couple of years…

And everybody forgets about Nintendo.

Can this bring about a revolution in the console industry?

Nintendo has been quiet about the Revolution for several months. But if they play their cards right at E3 2006 and Tokyo Game Show 2006 they have a very good chance to blow away their competition and generate more interest in their console apart from just marketing their handhelds.

Compared to the XBOX 360, Nintendo now has a very good chance of reclaiming their home market, Japan from the clutches of Sony who has dominated the Japanese market for the past 10 years.

The Nintendo Revolution will be perfect for Japanese gamers who seek a different kind of variety in their gameplay and don’t really care much about graphics or raw hardware power. The size of the Nintendo Revolution compared to the XBOX 360 and the PS3 is actually a big advantage for Japanese gamers who actually like their consoles small. And the price point of the Nintendo Revolution will definitely be more affordable compared to the powerhouse ‘reality synthesizer’ known as the PS3. Japan has certainly warmed up to Nintendo’s handhelds and looking at the Nintendo Revolution concept, chances are the Japanese will like the new console as well.

The quintessential icon of gameplay...Mario!

If Nintendo wins in Japan it will be a big blow for Sony since the gaming media always puts the Japan market sales on a pedestal. But for many gamers around the world, Nintendo will have to play their cards right.

By playing their card’s right it means having to show games actually running on the Nintendo Revolution and proving that the ‘remote control’ controller concept is one that actually offers unique gameplay going beyond novelty gaming. It also means having to make push their games and create new interesting properties for the Nintendo Revolution other than the usual Nintendo suspects.

Nintendo isn’t out of the console wars! And right now they are in the best position to surprise us all.